Marty Orland, an EDGE Strategic Partner!

Dr. Martin Orland (PhD) is an independent consultant whose varied educational leadership roles have consistently focused on filling the nexus between evidence-based knowledge and improved policy and practice. He most recently spent nine years as Senior Program Director for Evaluation and Policy Researchat WestEd as well as founding director of its Washington DC office. During his WestEd tenure Orland led a nationwide staff conducting policy, research and evaluation studies and large scale technical assistance efforts on topics including data-driven decisionmaking; turning around low-performing schools; administrative, teaching, and curricular interventions; standards, assessment and accountability reform; and teacher and leader effectiveness. He also directed the Mid-Atlantic comprehensive technical assistance center (MACC) for the U.S. Department of Education, and was director/principal investigator for several major research and evaluation studies including the national evaluation of the U.S. Department of Education’s Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration program (CSRD).

Prior to joining WestEd, Orland was Director of the Center for Education (CFE) at the National Research Council, part of the National Academies. Under his stewardship, the CFE released influential reports on scientific research in education; student cognition; educational assessment; mathematics and science teaching, learning, and curriculum; education and the workforce, and technology applications in the schools.

Before serving at the National Academies, Orland was a member of the federal government’s Senior Executive Service (SES) at the U.S. Department of Education (ED) with stints at the Institute of Education Sciences (and its predecessor agency — the Office of Educational Research and Improvement), the National Center for Education Statistics, and the National Education Goals Panel. Major projects led by Orland while at ED include the What Works Clearinghouse, the regional educational laboratory network, the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and annual reports documenting progress in achieving the national education goals.

Orland is a former president of the Association for Education Finance and Policy (formerly the American Education Finance Association) and currently serves on the Editorial Board for Education Finance and Policy. He has authored several dozen publications for academic journals, policy and practitioner audiences and government agencies and regularly presents at international, national, and regional conferences.